One way to incorporate the Digital Citizenship curriculum and to honor the Digital Citizenship pledge is to connect with other schools via Google Hangout or Skype, and practice what they have learned in a fun way. By celebrating various literature-inspired holidays with other schools within your district, the United States, or worldwide, elementary students can hone their 21st Century communication skills.

In September, we celebratecourage, creativity, and collaborationwithInternational Dot Day, We read books about art and taking risks, and share dot-inspired art with other schools.

In October, we celebrate Read for the Recordand collaborate with other schools to share the book of the year. Also in October isDigital Citizenship Week - the perfect time to teach this topic, and practice new skills like communicating kindly with someone else online.

In March we celebrate World Read Aloud Day where my students connect with other classrooms around the United States to share information about each other’s state and read aloud to one another. Mo Willem’s Elephant and Piggiebooks are perfect books for Gerald, and the other, Piggie, Older students can the younger grades - one school can read the part of read two-part poems such as Joyful Noise by Paul Fleischman or read a Readers’ Theater version of a book, such as Judy Schachner’sSkippyjon Jones- Lost in Spice, dividing the parts between the two schools.

Melissa McDonald is the School Library Media Specialist at Flower Hill Elementary School in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and is the author of the blog, The Creative Librarian - Adventures in School Librarianship.